I've never been a big fan of music videos,( some early MTV was cool, especially robert palmer and peter gabriel), but i do miss the awesomeness of cover art. I view albums as complete pieces of art (not just songs) and putting a one image face to that album is just interesting to me.

Animals - one of the great bands of all time. Eric Burdon was also the lead singer for War on many albums.

Queen - some real classics!

We MUST add the Yardbirds to our list. Check out these former lead guitarists:- Eric Clapton- Jimmy Page- Jeff Beck

For a while both Page and Beck played guitar at the same time for the Yardbirds, Beck on lead and Page on both bass or rhythm guitar. They did a couple records with both on lead.

Another must add is Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Crosby had played with the Byrds, Stills and Young with Buffalo Springfield, Young with Crazy Horse, Nash with the Hollies. Stills tried to become on of the Monkees, but was turned down due to a current record contract and he recommend his friend Peter Tork who was selected.

A somewhat unknown group was Love. They were popular on the West Coast and in the UK. One of the first psychedelic bands. First big hit was "7 and 7 is." On one of their tracks, Jimi Hendrix played - this was Hendrix's first recording.

Growing up in LA during the 60's I often snuck (I was underage) into the Troubadour and the Whiskey A Go Go, very famous rock clubs. Also in the 60's a club called The Blue Law opened in the Gardena area of So Cal, and headlined Cream before they made it big. I used to go their a lot with some of my friends. The Blue Law was huge, a former warehouse and it was cheap to get in. The absolute best was the Fillmore in San Francisco, and I hitch-hiked up there a couple of times with my old Boy Scout backpack in tow; again underage. Ah, but then I entered the military to "grow-up."

I first heard Love with Arthur Lee on the FM underground radio in Chicago . Forever Changes. Blew my mind. Many years later here in Portland Arthur showed up with what would become the Forever Changes tour that eventually had a full symphony by the time they hit London. Out on DVD.The summer of Light my Fire I saw the Doors in Chicago . Morrison did backflips on the stage, women threw underwear, the cops shut it down because Jim invited the audience to come up. Chairs went flying. Saw them again the year of Waiting for the Sun. Still tight but he barely moved. The Jefferson Airplane doing Volunteers, Steve Miller, It's a Beautiful Day, Iron Butterfly, Blue Cheer, Spirit, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Commander Cody. Good times . Little Ed and the Blues Imperials. Ed is J.B. Hutto's nephew. My favorite band with only an e.p. free out The Black Ships with Nick McCabe. And just from the library Fruit Tree by Nick Drake Found This .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYoCynZHl9E

As an impressionable 14-yr-old on Oct. 9 1976 at the Oakland Coliseum, I saw the Dead for four hours followed by the Who (with Keith Moon on drums) for three hours, as a thick cloud of cannabis smoke hung over the outfield. I missed the prime of the '60s bands but saw the Who, Zep, and Stones in an 18-month period in the mid-70s and the Who was by far the best. No contest really. Shortly thereafter, I attended my my first Dead show at Winterland. The great thing about Dead shows at Winterland, besides the great music and interesting crowd, was that I never ever remember seeing a cop inside the hall. Ever.

Yeah he really came out of left field. Perfect psychedelic guitars but then a horn section and strings .It was like staring at those old sleeves at Elektra and seeing the Doors for sale next to Herb Albert And the albums got driftier and driftier. De Capo out there . Songs like Lonesome Cowboy so far out that it was like turning his stuff inside out. A big backstory that needs fleshing out is the lyric writer. Bryan MacLeanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_MacLeanMuch like Cream , the poet never really got due respect.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_BrownYou have to love it all , but history is history too. Punk was so welcome . But so was New Wave. I got by on Bluegrass when Disco was king. But it also sticks with you . Iris Dement is incredible. Gillian Welch , Dave Rawlings, and Emmylou are playing many evenings as well as Visions of Excess by the Golden Palaminos or Come clean by Curve . And seeing the Psychedelic Furs and Oingo Boingo . It really is our best friend.

And don't forget how much Sondra Locke did for Clint later on . She was some child star and I think it hit him hard. Wincing. But how lucky we are to have film, music and photography. True time machinery.

Well Happy VD day as we used to say. A free download of Chicago Blues in 72. I am from the South Side and this is very real . Ignore the British Overlord commentary. Kind of ironic and class structure ladled. But man the music is there. ENJOY. And look at other posts by this guy. Some rare Clapton, Clash. http://stagevu.com/video/kyhjtqmntwof

Ever see Leo in concert? Bizarre. Plays like a Cyclotron but swears like a sailor. Fahey I saw about 73 when his girlfriend was at our campus. Dead drunk on stage and a pure mess. Bad night? What did you make of the Mahavishnu Orchestra or Return to Forever, or Miles in those times?

Kottke in concert? Not in a long time but yes. He's from our neck of the woods. Most times it was at college concerts (student center venues, bare stage except one mic and a steel folding chair.

First time I heard "Watermelon" on the radio I thought THOSE guys are GOOD. Then heard, "that was Leo Kottke" ... hmmm strange name for a band. Was genuinely floored the first time I saw "them" live and he walked out on stage alone.